The Vada B. Dow Writer's Workshop for Teachers

The Vada B. Dow Writing Workshop for Area Teachers will be held July 24-28, 2023, at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio and the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library in Midland, MI. 

The Vada B. Dow Workshop for Area Teachers offers K-12 teachers in our region the gift of time and creative space to rediscover the power of writing: not simply through discussion of best practices, but by crafting, sharing, and discussing their own writing. Through this workshop, we hope that teachers will rediscover the joy of writing and return to their classrooms as advocates for writing with their own students.

Taught by two professional writers, John Mauk (fiction writer) and Anne-Marie Oomen (non-fiction writer and poet), the Vada B. Dow Workshop for Area Teachers will provide guided writing prompts and other activities to help teachers create their own fiction and memoir writing. Over five days, teachers will learn first-hand the process of writing, from brainstorming to drafting to revising, which they can share with their future students. This workshop will be held at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio in the mornings, and the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library in the afternoons. 

This five-day workshop includes with a working session with well-known writer/teacher from NCTE and MRA, Penny Kittle, author of Book Love and Micro Mentor Texts.  In addition, teachers are invited to attend free evening events featuring readings and discussions with professional authors, in connection with the Michigan Authors' Workshop Series. On Monday evening (July 24), Penny Kittle will provide a community lecture on student literacy at the Grace A. Dow Library. Poet Jack Ridl, fiction writer Desiree Cooper, non-fiction writer Jerry Dennis, and YA authors Gary Schmidt, Brittany Caverello, and Heather Bowman will give readings and discuss their work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (July 25-27) evenings at the Dow Gardens.

The workshop includes lunches, all materials, a one-year pass to Dow Gardens, and 25 SCECHS. The total cost is $150/teacher. Applications will be accepted from area K-12 teachers in all disciplines; to apply, click on the registration link below.  Registrations will be accepted through May 15, 2023.

Please note that we are especially interested in applications from practicing K-12 teachers who have not attended this workshop in the past and are currently teaching in the Great Lakes Bay/Thumb region of Michigan. However, we are accepting applications from teachers who do not meet these criteria as well. If you have questions, contact us at sbwp@svsu.edu.

This program is generously sponsored by the Alden and Vada Dow Creativity Foundation.

APPLY HERE